Trust
by KitaxHaku
Summary: Tetsuki finds everything troublesome and responds by faking her life with empty smiles. But she makes a poor decision and it leads to her being exposed. Like dominoes, events fall into place-and lead Tetsuki on a new adventure.


Hello, welcome to another Kurama story from KitaxHaku! I proudly present the first chapter of a story that I have been working on for a while (but never got around to finishing). I love this story very much, and so I decided to share it with you!

Also, one last thing: this story is a comic at smackjeeves dot com. The story line is basically the same, but there are some scenes there that won't be here, and vice versa.

Now then, please enjoy the story!

~….~

_Sure, I have many friends! I love to hang out with them. We have sleepovers on the weekends, giggling about boy, and sharing secrets. I would gladly take the fall for any one of them, any day. _

…_**That is, if by "friends," you mean the people you talk to everyday and share fake smiles with. **_

_**Then yes, I have hundreds of friends. **_

_**If by having sleepovers, you mean wasting time with these "friends" to share gossip until the sun rises, then yes, I do that with them too. **_

_**If you're referring to "the fall" as tripping them when they've been discovered as a back-stabbing phony, then yes, I agree that I would do that. **_

_How do you do? I am Tetsuki Sato, a freshman at Meiou High School. Please don't be too taken aback by my straightforward outlook on things. This is just the way I am—okay, well, maybe it's not really how I am._

_On the contrary, I am described as "nice" and "oh so lovable" by many. I guess I just find it easier to be pleasant then to deal with the people who oppose my "true" personality. Yeah, I live a lie. _

_Big deal. _

_We all live a lie; I just exaggerate mine a little…Anyway, I'm sure you aren't interested in small matters like that. _

_Shall we begin the real story?_

~….~

I woke up, staring at the ceiling. Oh how it annoyed me.

Waking up to the alarm by my bed didn't annoy me, nor did the fact that I had to awaken on the small twin sized bed (where my feet could almost touch the end).

No, what annoyed me was the color of not just my ceiling, but my whole room: pink.

What an ungodly color it was. Who, in their honest mind, would want to wake up every morning, only to be blinded by the ugly shade? I'm sure the girls at Meiou High would (and probably for most cases already, are), considering our uniforms are also bright pink, but I wasn't too fond of that outfit, either.

As I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the blotches of light in them to disappear, my mother cracked the door open.

"Dear, it's time to wake up—Oh, you're already awake!" She said, holding her hand on her cheek. I looked up at her, my face emotionless for a moment.

'_Of course I'm already awake, you stupid old fart. I'm always awake when you come in. Even if your ugly face wasn't to pop in, I'd wake up from the smell of your disgusting cooking every morning….' _

Is what I'd like to say to her, but that'd be too dangerous. She'd start to cry from the shock, surely, and go racing down to my father, flailing her arms and screaming on how I'd been possessed by a demon. Then, he'd freak out too and soon the whole world would be in complete chaos.

Needless to say, it'd be a troublesome reaction—it wasn't worth it.

I turned my blank face into a bright one, with a wide smile. "Yes, mother, I am awake! But thank you for worrying that I'd oversleep. One day, I will forget, and I will be relying on you to wake me up." She blushed in pride before closing the door, and my smile fell as I sighed, lifting myself into a sitting position.

"Really…how troublesome…"

I knew the real reason on why she came in every morning; she was so self-absorbed in the fact that her daughter was one of the few teenagers that awoke without the aid of a parental unit, and never snapped back at her in a snobby tone in the wee early hours of the morning. Of course that was the reason; what other reason could there be?

Regardless, I shook off the explanation reoccurring in my head, and got ready for school, unwillingly slipping into the bright pink outfit from hell. Once I finished changing, I looked in the mirror, and lowered my shoulders instead of the usual sigh.

Why was I born into this family again? My traits didn't even match my parents'; neither of them had black hair or purple eyes like I did. They told me that my grandparent's parents had my characteristics, but really, if you looked at my parents and me, you would have thought I was adopted.

Ever since I was _born_ I was always complimented as "such a beautiful baby" or was told that I had "the prettiest and rarest purple eyes," and "the curliest, blackest hair". It always annoyed me. But another reason I hated my looks was just because they contrasted with my uniform's disgusting color, causing myself to stick out even more than I already did.

Sure, many girls at my school have black hair; that's a given in Japan, but not many of them have purple eyes (if any of them do, I haven't met them). The combination of curly black hair, purple eyes and a pink uniform usually didn't match; but for some reason, the world decided that because of my "uniqueness" suddenly I was an acceptation.

Once again shoving the daily complaint out of my mind, I turned to the door, swept up my bag from my desk, and made my way out of my room.

~….~

I got to school at least an hour early, and I walked directly to my shoe box, attempting to quickly change out my outside shoes with my slippers.

Of course, that was never the case.

As it did every day, the shoe box threw out at least a dozen love letters for little old me. I sighed, picking them up and going through them. "Taniguchi, Saaichi, Kyota, Mewari, Kenchi…" Shrugging, I recalled all of them slowly one by one, matching the names with faces. Most of them were seniors; lately, I'd been a target of theirs. I didn't know who Saaichi was, but I was sure that we'd meet eventually.

Returning my attention to the letters, I blinked as I looked through the last seven. "…Michi, Youko, Ririn, Hanako, Hana, Kagoa and Saiyuri…" More girls than guys?

_I'm losing my touch_, I thought before I pushed all of the letters into a single pile and straightened them out. I opened my bag to gently place them inside.

I used to get at least twenty letters from guys every single day, maybe one or two from girls, but they were mostly admirers. Now, it seemed to be more than just admiration from the girls…I guess they were just so protective of me.

Although I found the letters a nuisance, I didn't want to make a fool out of any of the authors by throwing them away in a garbage bag here at school; besides, some kid would be bound to find them and call me out for throwing them away. It'd be way too troublesome.

I put my outside shoes in the box, and slipped into the slippers before proceeding to my classroom. I had Chemistry first and I had to get the chemicals out of the storage room before everyone got there, and set them up. Since the guy that usually got them out caused an explosion last week, I was "the only one" the teacher thought he could trust.

As I reached the science hall, I walked to the first door on my left, the storage room. I searched the insides of the room for the required chemicals, finding five of the six, the last one missing.

"Strange…the sulfuric acid isn't here." I muttered to myself before concluding that one of the students must have left it out in the room from the previous day. I closed the door with my foot, my hands full with the chemicals and my bag, and walked towards the Chemistry lab.

Upon opening the door, the first thing I noticed was that the window had been foolishly left open, a wind gleefully playing with the white curtains. Really, who would be stupid enough to leave the window open all night? The school could get broken into easily that way, even if it was the second floor. I sighed, putting the chemicals I had in my hands down gently, before walking over to the window.

"How troublesome…" I muttered again, but none the less closing my eyes to feel the wind pushing back my black curls. I stayed there for a moment, admiring the only thing higher than me: nature. When the gust of wind stopped blowing, I reached out to close the window.

"Wait, please don't close it!" I turned in surprise, hearing another voice in the room, and found the perpetrator standing in the back, a test tube in his hand. Another gust of wind flew through the window as we made eye contact.

His red hair swayed gently in the breeze, and his eyes sparkled in the sun light's reflection. His thin, though obviously muscular, in shape body deemed itself a separate level from the rest of the world.

I immediately noticed how similar we were—you know, the unusual eye color, differently categorized hair styles and attributes that separated us from the others of the human society. The only disparity was that his skin was tanner than mine.

Well that, and that his eyes glittered with life and curiosity. I let go of the window's handle, and faced him all the way, realizing who he was.

"Suuichi Minamino." He blinked as I said his name, his calm smile still not leaving his face.

Yes, this was him; the other famous kid from Meiou High. He had the grades, the looks, the athletic ability, and did I mention the looks? He had _two_ fan clubs; that's right, he could turn straight men in to galling fan girls. He surpassed me in every single way, and I gladly let him. I know that I had girl crushes, but it just wasn't as bad as his boy fans.

I blinked to myself, now realizing that I had said his name rudely, and plastered a fake smile on my face, bringing my hands up to my cheeks. "Oh my-what am I saying?"

I prolonged, twisting my hips, and facing my feet inwardly. "I didn't mean to say your name so forwardly, Minamino-sempai!" I stammered, blinking up at him with a blushing face.

There, that should do it. Maybe he'd leave the room now that he saw how giddy I was, or not be able to stand how cute I was.

He simply smiled at me, and shook his head. "It is quite alright."

I blinked, my face still frozen in its smile.

"You just know me from school gossip, correct? I'm sure you would never address me with so much familiarity, if you actually knew me." I didn't move. Was he…being sarcastic? Yes, I'm sure he was being sarcastic.

"What brings you to the Chemistry lab?" He questioned, changing subjects as I lowered my hands from my face. I blinked but only responded by skipping over to his side, looking at his experiment.

"Me? My class is having their first period in this lab room, and my teacher wanted me to get it set up!" I cheered happily before picking up the bottle next to his arm. "And, lucky me, I just found the last thing I needed! Thanks, Minamino-sempai!" I chimed happily before skipping back to the rest of the chemicals on the front table.

For a while, I didn't look at him and he the same to me. I glanced at him as I finished my preparations, surprised that he wasn't a bit curious about me.

"Minamino-sempai," I called from the other side of the classroom as I washed my hands, "Why are you doing an experiment so early in the morning?" He, now looking back down at his notes and experiment, raised an eyebrow to show that he was listening.

After scribbling down more notes and swirling the unknown substance in the test tube, he answered. "I was bored, I suppose." I stared at him with a confused face while he looked down at his notes; he was bored? What kind of freak would do chemistry at seven in the morning because he was _bored_? "Besides, I was curious about what sort of reaction I would get by mixing these chemicals together. It's been bothering me for quite a while now…"

He trailed off, swirling the liquid in the tube again before quickly jotting another note down. I rolled my eyes quickly before he looked up at me with another raised eyebrow. I smiled at him until he looked down again.

"Ehhh? Minamino-sempai is really smart!" I said, giggling before returning to the front of the room to clean up the left over chemicals. "I'm so jealous!" Suuichi stopped his writing and looked up at me with his head tilted to the side.

"For what reason? Are you not the number one in the freshman class, Sato-san? Surely that requires plenty of intelligence." I blinked. So, the famous Suuichi knew my name. That was an unpleasant surprise.

How troublesome…now he'd be another freak that waved at me between classes. But I smiled, regardless, and blushed.

"Sempai, what are you saying? I'm not nearly as smart as you!" I said, walking up to his experiment from the other side.

"By the way, those two chemicals mix together to make nitric sulfuric acid."

Suuichi stopped jotting down notes, looked at his experiment first, and then up at me. "Clever observation, Sato-san." He put the test tube in the test tube holder, and wiped his hand on his lab coat before sticking out his hand over the experiment with a smile.

"We haven't been properly introduced," he said. "I am Suuichi Minamino." I stared at his hand, an adorable blush taking over my face as I childishly reached out to him.

"I-" I stuttered, resisting the urge to puke, "I am Tetsuki Sato. It is a pleasure to meet _the_ Mr. Perfect!" I joked, shaking his hand firmly once before pulling my hand back to my side.

Suuichi chuckled at my friendly joke before beginning to clean up his station. As he did so, I rubbed my hand on my skirt; he had gotten it dirty…the worthless eye candy. "You are a very charming girl, Sato-san." Suuichi admitted as he cleaned the test tube. I giggled, and shook my hand at him.

"Oh, please, call me Tetsu-chan, since everyone calls me that. It feels strange to be called Sato-san!" I claimed, batting my eyes. Suuichi smiled, and nodded as he put away his lab coat. He faced towards me completely, and bowed lightly.

"Very well, Tetsu-chan. It was a pleasure to meet the infamous 'Girl of Glitter'. " He said with a light chuckle. Inside, of course, I felt like shooting myself in the head. He even knew about the "Girl of Glitter" nickname? I don't even understand fully how I got it; the crazy students here started to compare my smile to glitter, I guess, and soon enough that was my new pet name…Girl of Glitter.

Pushing the distasteful memory from my mind, I brought my attention back to Suuichi. "You may call me Suuichi-sempai, as well." I pretended to gasp in surprise, and looked at him while shaking my head.

"O-oh no, Minamino-sempai! I could never!" But he insisted, and I easily gave in; the more he was pleased the quicker he'd leave. "V-very well, Suuichi-sempai…"

He smiled, and patted my head before bowing lightly and leaving the room with one last good bye. My lips dropped into a frown and I huffed loudly.

_That was the worst situation ever…_

Looking up to the clock as I walked towards the front, I checked the time. "Eh? It's still only half an hour before eight? I've got thirty minutes left before classes start…" I touched the top of my head, the warmth from Suuichi's hand still present. I glared mentally at him; what a mess he made (first my hand, now my head?).

After a moment of boredom, I sauntered over to the window to finally close it, only to look down and see Suuichi walking in the front yard of the school. As if sensing my stare, he turned to look up at me with a smile. I smiled quickly with a wave, and closed the window before turning my head away from him as I pulled the curtains shut. After a moment's thought, though, I pulled the curtain back to steal another quick peek at the red head, and saw him talking to someone I couldn't see very well (due to Suuichi's tall back blocking the way). After a shrug, I dropped the curtain and continued fixing the room for my class; Suuichi's business was none of mine, after all.

~….~

"Sato-san," The teacher called to me in math class, "would you come and show the class how this problem is supposed to be done?" I looked up, noticing an embarrassed boy standing at the front of the class. My eyes narrowed for a moment, but I stood up, raising my hand happily.

"Sure, I'll help!" I called, walking up. As I approached the board, the boy made his way back to his seat, but I pulled his sleeve. "Where are you going? I said I'd help you, not do it for you, silly!" I insisted, pulling him to my side.

He turned bright red, not certain on how to react, but in the end turned towards the board. "I-I'm not smart like you are—" He began to complain, but I quickly put my finger up as I winked.

"Don't worry! I said I'd help you!" I promised before pointing towards the board. The teacher and the students all looked at me in surprise as I assisted the thoroughly confused student in correcting the hardest problem the teacher could give out under a minute. Once the boy completed the problem, I sat back into my seat quickly, and raised my hand.

"Y-yes, Sato-san?" The teacher stuttered, turning to face me all the way. I smiled.

"He seems to have gotten the problem done, sir! I do not believe I need to do the problem!" I said, saluting the boy. "You've done well, protégée!"

The bell rang. The teacher left the classroom in a daze, as if the amount of pride he was feeling had overloaded his brain. Not too soon after, students surrounded my desk like flies. Did they not get tired of doing that every day? And just why did it have to be at lunch time? Even I needed to eat!

"You're so nice, Tetsu-chan!" One girl called.

"No, no, I just like to help out is all!" I responded, trying to squeak happily over my growling stomach. Another girl shook her head, insisting.

"That's the same thing!"

"Yeah! Gee, Tetsu-chan, you're so cool, and pretty, and nice! You helped that loser kid, and nobody would do that except you!" I turned to look at the "loser boy" who was sitting by himself with his lunch already half way gone. I stood up and walked over to him, and he stared at me, startled.

"S-Sato-san?" he said quietly as I stood beside him. He was confused as I glanced at him, noting his longish, dark brown hair and glasses, as well as his almost anorexic body and pale skin. There was a reason they called him "the loser boy," but I fought the urge to let the words slip out of my mouth.

"I'm sorry I haven't asked before…but what is your name?" I asked him with a smile. His face turned beet red, but he answered nonetheless.

"I-It's Saaichi Woori…" I blinked as his face turned brighter red. Saaichi…he was the one name I didn't recognize! He was the boy who had written that last confession letter!

I stood in silence beside him before pulling him up, and dragging him out of the room. Our classmates quickly started to follow, but I smiled at them, shaking a finger. "Don't follow us! We need to talk privately!" I turned, ready to leave, but felt the need to scold my classmates for being mean while I wasn't looking; did they really think they could get away with this kind of stuff on _my_ turf?

"And by the way, don't be mean to Saaichi-kun from now on! Or else, I won't talk to you!" I threatened before continuing to pull Saaichi away. Saaichi looked at me as he tried to keep up; the fact that I had his upper arm wrapped in both my hands, and that he was almost twice as tall as me, prevented him from walking properly. I continued to pull him in this position as we walked downstairs and outside towards the back. Once we were alone and secluded, I let go of his arm and turned to him with the same smile I'd carried as we were walking down.

"Now that we're alone, let me hear it clearly." I said, causing him to look up in confusion.

"W-what?"

"Let me hear your confession again!" His face was going to explode; he was so embarrassed that he turned away and hid his face.

"Y-you read my letter?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded, trying not to snap at him. Of course I'd read the letter; did he not hear about how I was "gentle" to all of the guys that I rejected every day? Regardless, I walked up closer to him.

"I wouldn't mind going out with a nice guy like you. I know you better than any other guy that's confessed to me, so far." I giggled before pointing a finger at him. "But I want you to ask me correctly!"

He stared at me, his blush seeming to have calmed down a little. He bowed his head for a moment before making his hands fists, and lifting his head up to scream, "S-Sato-san…Will you go out with me?"

I sighed; sometimes I was just too nice. And now because of that, I had a boyfriend.

~….~

"Did you hear? Tetsu-chan is going out with a big loser!"

"What? No way!"

"You know Saaichi-kun from her class? The one that had no friends?"

"You've got to be kidding me! Guys that are three times as good-looking as Saaichi-kun have asked her out, and she picked _him_?"

"Excuse me," Everyone looked up, hearing the delicate voice calling into the classroom from the hallway window. It was a pleasant kind of voice, like that of a father who wanted to wake you up quietly on a Sunday morning; like a bush whispering to the wind…it was Suuichi.

Everyone stared at the owner of this voice, and gasped. "I couldn't help noticing that you're talking about Tetsu-chan. She is dating someone?" The gossiping group seemed frozen; the girls were ready to cry.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE AFTER TETSU-CHAN TOO?" One of the girls screamed. Suuichi blinked, taken back by their crying.

"DON'T DO IT, SUUICHI-SAMA! ALTHOUGH YOU'RE EVERYTHING A GIRL WANTS, SHE DOESN'T CARE! SHE'S CRAZY!"

Suuichi blinked in surprise as the girls surrounded him with tears. He sighed lightly, reassuring everyone that he was not interested in Tetsuki, and continued to walk to the roof.

He was in the same situation, being popular with both genders in the coed school, although he never agreed to go out with anybody who found the courage to ask him. He and Tetsu were at the same level: both of them were "beautiful" in every single way. While he was tall, young, and handsome, she was short, even younger, and adorably adorable. To say in the least, if they were to date, all fans would most likely give up on any chance of going out with the two stars of the school.

"You're so cute when you smile, Saaichi-kun!"

Suuichi looked up to see Tetsuki and, to whom he assumed, Saaichi. Tetsuki looked at Suuichi as they passed each other, and she gave him a wide smile. "Hello, Suuichi-kun! Have you met Saaichi-kun?"

Saaichi nodded to Suuichi lightly, his head lowered. "How do you do?" He asked in a low whisper.

Suuichi smiled with a wave, and congratulated them. "I have heard rumors that you are now an item?" He couldn't help but find this amusing, but at the same time, cruel. He knew from the first time he met her in the Chemistry lab that she was faking any and all emotions.

The way that she had sighed; the way her eyebrows burrowed as she reached over to the handle of the window; it was all too obvious that she was never, if at all, happy. So Tetsuki agreeing to go out with the most unpopular boy in school was interesting all on its own. Perhaps she did have emotions.

Tetsuki blushed as she nodded before wrapping her arm around his. "Rumors spread fast, don't they?"

Suuichi nodded, his eyebrow raised. "Indeed. But in the end, it is only the person in the gossip that can verify."

He continued to walk down the hall, and Tetsuki watched his back. She turned after a moment to look back up at Saaichi with a smile until she saw his face.

It was shriveled up in anger, and he lowered his face to Tetsuki. "What is your relationship with him?"

She blinked nervously before laughing and pushing him away slightly. "We just met this morning, as a matter of fact."

Saaichi stood up straight, and his face turned back to normal. "O-oh…okay, if you say so."

He began to walk ahead of her, and she slowly followed behind.

Maybe there was a reason he was unpopular…

~….~

"Are you sure, Tetsu-chan?"

I sighed quickly before looking up at Saaichi with a tired smile. We had been going out for a week, and he proved to be a handful. "I'm sorry, Saaichi-kun, but I can't eat with today. I would like to eat dinner with my family tonight."

He crossed his arms as he growled lightly. "I don't see what the problem is. They seen you every day and night; I only get this time with you."

"I know," I said patting his shoulder, "but we've already hung out for three hours just now, and we will have many more to spend together. It's just that I miss my mother's cooking."

Before he could argue any farther, I stood on my tip toes to peck his cheek. He took it as an apology, and after a hug goodbye, I ran to my house quickly. He called to me as I neared the door, but my body reacted on its own by opening and closing the door as quickly as possible.

Saaichi had proved my theory of why he was unpopular. He was clingy and controlling; he demanded that whenever I was free, I was to hang out with _him_. Not to mention that lately, everywhere I went, I saw Suuichi. Saaichi would get jealous, and I would pay the price of having to make him happy again. It was a lot of trouble, and I didn't know if I could deal with it anymore. But I was Tetsuki, the girl of glitter; I couldn't let anyone see a fault.

"I'm home!" I called with a small sigh. My mother quickly showed leaned out from the kitchen and smiled contentedly towards me.

"Welcome home, dear!" She said, "I have doughnuts waiting for you with your name on them!"

I cried in delight, though inside, I felt like throwing up. "You just love your mother's doughnuts, don't you?"

_No, not at all._

"I've made them for you every day since you've gone to school, and you're still not sick of them!"

_That's because you would cry if I didn't eat those pathetic pieces of wood._

"Thank you, Mother! I love your doughnuts to death!" _That's right…until death do us part…unless the doughnuts end up in the toilet later tonight…I may not be able to hold it in my mouth for too long this time._

My father walked in at that moment, and nearly squealed when he saw me.

"Ah, there is my dear Tetsu-chan!" He cried, hugging me tightly. "How was your day? Did you run out of anything? Do you need any new supplies? How about new clothes? Let's go get you something! Your birthday is only a couple of months away, anyway!"

_Ugh, meet the second most annoying person ever born…my dad._

"It's okay, Daddy! I am just fine with what I have!" He nearly cried in pride-scratch that, he did cry. He enveloped me in a bear hug, and swung me around and around.

"You're such a beautiful child! I'm so glad you were born!" He screamed, swinging me around for a moment longer until my mother ordered him to stop.

"Now, now, Daddy. Let her eat her snack," she commanded, leading me to the table. "Have as many as you like! You have my metabolism, after all, so you'll never have to worry about getting fat!"

As she walked back to the oven, I eyed her "figure," which was unpleasantly bouncing up and down, and sighed; was I going to end up like her? I didn't particularly worry about the figure problem, but just thinking about wearing her clothes, make up and shoes scared me to death.

I started to cry, and my father quickly jumped up from the other side of the table. "What's wrong, Tetsu-chan?" I shut my eyes tightly, and took another bite out of the doughnut in my hand.

"Mother's doughnuts are the best…I just can't help but cry out my love for them!"

_I don't want to be like her!_

~….~

I opened my room door, and closed it slowly behind me as I stepped in. As soon as the door shut, I jumped onto my bed lazily, moaning about my stomach. After a few moments of mentally complaining, I opened my eyes again and stared at the pink ceiling.

"Ugh…maybe I should paint it purple…" Irritated, I went to take my bath, and took a long time just so that I wouldn't have to look at the color anymore. As I came back into my room about an hour later and laid on the bed, I heard a thud outside on my balcony.

Sitting up, I scratched my head and looked at the clock beside me, squinting through the darkness. "Are they here already?" I muttered before getting up. Hearing another thud, I quietly made my way to my balcony's locked doors and opened it, revealing the cause of the noises.

"Hi Kentaro, Michiko, Miko." I said. The full moon stared down at my guests, revealing their distinctive figures. After showing a small smile, I backed up so that they could walk in.

I'm sure you're wondering who these three people are. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not quite sure myself.

One day, while I was still in middle school, I had met them down town; the three of them were unbelievably dirty and hungry, sitting under a broken umbrella in the pouring rain on the side of the street. I took pity on them and sneaked them into my room through the balcony. After feeding them and giving them clean clothes, we got to know each other. After that night they often came to visit me through my balcony, and it kind of became a ritual.

Strange, I know, but for some reason, I felt more comfortable around them than even my own parents, although that still doesn't say much.

"Tetsuki-sama…welcome home," the girl said, her high pitched voice squeaking quietly from below her even bangs. I rolled my eyes as I turned to sit on my bed, and looked at her as they moved around my room, searching for comfortable places to sit.

"What are you talking about, Michiko?" I asked, trying not to let a chuckle escape from my mouth. "I've been home for hours; you are the ones who just came here."

Michiko seemed to panic, and looked at her brothers for help, who only looked away in silence. She lowered her head towards me, and began to apologize quickly. "Don't worry about it, Michiko. I was just joking." I said, sighing as I turned on to my back, and once again stared at my ceiling.

Even though they came every night, we never really did much. Most of the time we just sat there, or maybe listened to music, until I fell asleep and by the time I woke up, they were gone. But tonight was different, and I felt the need to talk to them.

While Saaichi was a big problem, I had already told them. They had expressed their feelings about it quite bluntly with phrases like "dump him" and "why are you with him?" But right now, Suuichi's magical appearances had been bothering me even more. Turning my head towards the oldest, Kentaro, I called out to him.

"There's this guy at school…" We sat there in silence as Kentaro looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Kentaro was tall and lanky, though in shape, and his long purple hair matched his elegant poise. But he easily lost that poise, I noticed, when it came to me being treated badly.

"Yes? Go on…" Kentaro said, his voice rich and deep.

"Tell us all about your little boyfriend—" Miko began before Kentaro quickly hit him on the head. Miko, the second oldest, was the gothic smart ass of the three. His lime green hair was like a deflated Mohawk that fell onto his right temple, and his body was nothing but skin and bones.

"D-don't interrupt Tetsuki-sama!" Michiko said quietly. Michiko was a sweetheart, who tried her hardest not to insult people. Her curly magenta hair was always put up in pigtails, and since I had given her my (secret) Lolita dress, she wore Lolita clothing all the time. I felt closest to her out of the three, although sometimes she became scared that we were growing too close, and would distance herself.

"You're not the older sibling, Michiko, so shut it!" Miko said. The two began to bicker, which led to them having to sit out on the balcony as punishment from Kentaro for being too loud. Though I was shocked myself by their calm attitude towards multiple other topics, they had proved to be quite protective of me when I brought up troubling problems. I turned my head towards the ceiling again and stared for another moment before continuing without Miko and Michiko.

"It's not about Saaichi, but it is about another boy." Kentaro raised his head again, but with a small chuckle this time.

"Oh, is that so? Does this boy have a name?"

I sat up, and rested my cheek on my hand. "Suuichi Minamino."

I waited for a reaction. And waited. And waited.

Then Kentaro swiftly stood up onto his feet, and opened the doors to the balcony. "Michiko, what did I tell you about that?" He suddenly yelled.

Michiko apologized with a confused look twisted on her face. "I-I'm s-sorry…? I won't do it again, I promise—"

"You and Miko have been pestering me all day, and this is how you act around Tetsuki-sama?" He continued. "She was just trying to tell me about some Suuichi Minamino boy!"

Miko and Michiko froze, and their faces became clammy before Miko stuttered to their brother. "Y-you're right, Ani, we have been fools tonight."

I blinked as I got up and walked over to them. "What are you guys freaking out about? As soon as Kentaro said sempai's name, you all got pale…do you know him?"

They all jumped as I asked them, but they refused to say they did. "We had better be on our way. We had agreed to help out around the landlady's place tomorrow, so we'll need sleep. Goodbye, Tetsuki-sama."

Without another word, the three climbed down my balcony and fled into the darkness in the forest. I scratched my head, confused and a bit insulted by their sudden retreat.

"The one time I actually want to talk…and they run off like little mice…" I snorted in ignorance before slamming the doors to the balcony and going to bed.

~….~

"How are things down there?" Kurama nodded to Botan through the video communicator he held.

"All is clear."

"Very well!" Botan sang, waving her finger in victory, "hurry and check with Hiei for me, will you? He never answers his communicator…I think he does it just to bug me!"

As she pouted Kurama chuckled and agreed to find him, and slipped the communicator back into his pocket. It most likely wasn't that Hiei was ignoring Botan; on the contrary, he was focusing.

This morning, Hiei had come to Kurama's school to ask him to help out with a round check for demons; Koenma said he had been getting strange readings on the levels of demon activity in the human world. Since the dark tournament had just ended a month ago, everyone was still weary.

Kurama continued through the woods until he smelled the faint trail of a demon. "No…there's more than one—"

"Three."

Hiei dropped beside Kurama, his eyes narrowed up to him. "Hiei, you smell it as well, then?"

Hiei nodded to his red haired friend, and looked through the woods. "They came from the living area over there, but they left in a rush. Their scent is everywhere, so I can't tell at which house they came from. They are clever—"

"But they don't seem to be very strong." Kurama said, analyzing the aura trails they had left. "Maybe one is the strongest, but the other two are powerless."

He stood on the tree branch again, and looked at his partner. "Shall we find them?"

Hiei shrugged but nodded, saying it was all the same to him. But Botan began to scream through Hiei's communicator.

"Hiei! Answer me, Hiei! I know you're there; if you don't come back to the spirit world in five minutes, I'm going to take you to Hell personally! Do you hear me? Hiei—"

Hiei, ready to kill the poor blue head, quickly changed his mind about going after the demons. "We have their scent. If they try anything, at least we can easily tell from now on."

Kurama nodded, and Hiei jumped on the trees to go back to the spirit world. Kurama went home, and got a couple hours of sleep; perhaps it was good that the demons were finally backing off. That meant more sleep for him.

~….~

"Good morning, Saaichi-kun!" I said, smiling widely as I closed my front door. "Are you ready to go to school?"

Saaichi replied with an angry face and a grunt. "I don't want to go to school today. Let's skip."

He took hold of my wrist tightly, and began to pull me the opposite way from school. "E-eh? But Saaichi-kun, I have to go—"

"You don't _have_ to," Saaichi said, "you just want to. But I don't. So we're not."

I growled from behind; I could only take so much. "S-Saaichi…kun…_let go of my wrist._" I whispered, the hairs on the back of my neck standing.

He turned to look at me, and right as he was about to make eye contact, somebody called out to us.

"Tetsu-chan! Saaichi-san!"

We both turned in surprise, and made space between the two of us as we noticed Suuichi running up. He smiled as he came to a stop. "What a coincidence, meeting you guys here!" He said.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked to the side with a smile. "Isn't it always…" I mumbled.

"I was just about to head to school. Would you mind walking with me? I'm afraid I only came to this part of town to give an ill student homework assignments, and I don't know my way to school."

I looked at Saaichi from the corner of my eye, and was surprised to see a nervous expression on his face. He looked at me, as if telling me to answer. I sighed inwardly before smiling up to Suuichi. "Sure!"

I walked past Suuichi to lead and he replied by holding his nose suddenly. Trying to resist the urge to (falcon) punch him, I pretended to tear up. "D-do I smell, S-Suuichi-kun?"

Realizing that he was being rude, he quickly lowered his hand and apologized repeatedly. "I-It's just that your perfume smells so nice!"

I smiled for him before nodding a thank you and turning around. Saaichi followed me quickly, and Suuichi walked in the back, holding his chin as if in thought.

_Tetsuki…she smells just like the demons from last night!_ Suuichi looked at the girl, who was quietly leading the two to school. _But why does she smell like demons…did they come to her last night? I came here to find out where they were…and what a surprise this is indeed._

Suuichi stayed quiet the whole way to school, and after waving a quick goodbye to the couple, called Hiei to the roof.

"What is it, fox?" Hiei snapped, obviously tired. "Botan spent all night irritating me…"

Kurama wasted no time (though he found the comment fairly amusing). "I think I found where the demons came from last night…and I'm not entirely sure why, either, but…there's no doubt about it."

Hiei snapped out of his daze, and looked at Kurama seriously.

"…Tetsuki Sato's house."

~….~

So…what do you think? Horrible? Good? Bad? Needs work on _? Doesn't need _? Comments appreciated. This is one story that I am seriously getting into; I plan to at least triple draft this one! :3 I LOVE YOU for reading this! Thanks and see you next chapter!


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